Our Testimony

This morning I have felt so compelled to share our testimony. It's not our anniversary (for a couple weeks at least) but I've had it on my heart to tell you our story.
In two weeks we will celebrate our 8th anniversary but for awhile I didn't think we were going to make that anniversary...at least not together. This year has been hard, the hardest we've ever endured together. For months we fought...constantly. Literally. Not an hour would pass without an argument unless we were living in silence. In fact, we would both dread 4:45 because it meant Rob would be coming home from work. It meant hours of silence or arguing, co-existing so to speak. Weekends were the worst and we'd both be happy if he got called out because it meant time away from each other.
 I was in a women's Bible Study called "The Power of the Praying Wife" but to be honest I was praying for all the wrong things. The leader recently told me that I had a good poker face because I never trash talked Rob or revealed anything about our marital problems but inside I was a broken wreck. I was done with our marriage and so was Rob. I called a divorce attorney earlier this year, told Rob I was done and made plans on how to move on with life as a divorcee. Then Rob informed me that he wasn't willing to get divorced until we'd exhausted all our options for salvaging our marriage. In a moment of desperation, I called our friend in TN and asked for his pastoral wisdom and guidance. He gave me a few people here in BR to talk to but I was reluctant to call any of them. Rob and I discussed it a little more and decided it was our only option if we wanted to salvage our marriage. Well, that and praying of course.
Fast forward to today, June 1, 2016. After months of heartache, tears, angry words, late night discussions, sleepless nights, Christian guidance, lots of prayer, and of course God being put at the center of marriage I am happy to say that we are in the best place we've ever been in in our marriage. For the first time in our marriage, we are a TEAM. We discuss everything, can't wait to spend time together, do family activities on the weekends, do weekly family devotions, take family walks or go fishing in the evenings, are more involved with our church than ever and are HAPPY! A couple nights ago, Rob and I were trying to figure out the last time we argued about anything. We couldn't remember because all we do is laugh, talk and cuddle. We make memories and work hard at making our marriage the best it can be. Now I look forward to 4:45 and I was thrilled to have a long weekend with Rob this past weekend- 4 days together to hang out together.
I woke up to the sweetest email from Rob this morning, stating he was wide awake at 2am. Not because of stress or worry but because he's so high on life right now. A few months ago we were wide awake (in separate beds) all hours of the night because we were both miserable. It's truly amazing how prayer, Christian guidance, an excellent support system, communication and perseverance can heal a broken marriage. They say that storms can make it or break it, and I am so incredibly happy to tell you that our storm has made us strong, much stronger than ever! We are so blessed and it took all of the heartache to realize just how blessed we are- God gave us each other and He gave us 2 wonderful boys to complete our family. To God be the glory for restoring our marriage and our love for each other!